CRYSTALLINE
"Ribbon Ensnare!"
As the brightly coloured ribbons snaked their way through the air to their target, the target dashed away. The ribbons paused as if they were searching for the thing they were supposed to destroy before they disappeared. The Asteroid senshi huffed in frustration as her prey settled down at a safe distance.
"Quit it!" Sailor Vesta hissed.
Sailor Nyx smiled brightly and waved from the other end of the training arena. From the podium that overlooked the entire arena, three shadowed figures watched.
"Parapara will get her!" Sailor Pallas declared. "Magic ball!"
Bright blue balls whizzed through the air towards Nyx. The grey senshi leapt into the air to avoid them, but they angled sharply in mid-flight to intercept her. With an alarmed gasp, Nyx forced herself back to the ground, landing in a rolling tuck and leaping to her feet a safe distance away. The blue balls smashed into the arena walls.
Sailor Nyx smiled confidently, knowing she had already proven herself in this exercise when something crashed into her side. She flew backwards, but twisted her body so she would land not on her back, but on her feet. Instinctively, she crouched to face her attacker and saw Sailor Ceres standing a few feet away. She had a smug expression on her face.
Nyx felt her untested powers welling up inside of her again, not out of fear but out of anger. Her eyes lost all colour and became milky white. The other three Asteroid senshi joined Ceres, who was not staring in horror at her opponent.
"Uh oh," Sailor Juno muttered.
"That's enough!"
Nyx blinked, her eyes resuming their brown colour, and straightened. She and the four Asteroid senshi looked up to the podium where the three shadows stood, and bowed. Sailor Uranus stepped forward with King Endymion and Sailor Neptune a pace behind her.
"Good job," Uranus said, "all of you. Asteroid senshi, hit the shower. Nyx, stay there."
The four senshi bowed, glaring with malice at the newest senshi. They had been the favourites before, the childish senshi who had always put a smile on Small Lady's face. As they headed to the changing areas of the training ground, they saw the King talking happily with Nyx and they felt forgotten.
"Excellent work," King Endymion congratulated the young senshi.
Akumu bowed. "Thank you, Majesty, but I still can't control my powers."
"That will come with time," Neptune said gently.
"But until you can control them," Uranus added, "don't use them in training."
"It looks to me like she doesn't need them at all," Endymion remarked.
Akumu smiled at the comment, a warm feeling of contentment spreading through her. Although the city of Crystal Tokyo lay nearly in ruins after Abyss' failed take-over, Akumu felt happy for the first time in her life.
"Head for the showers," Uranus ordered. "I'm sure Small Lady and Lady Saturn are dying for your company."
Sailor Nyx bowed to King Endymion and the two older senshi and head off at a run for the changing areas.
*******
The giant crystal entombed them. Four bodies, eyes closed in peaceful contemplation, hands joined in friendship, floated in the calm crystal as if they floated in water. Their heads were tilted upwards slightly as they had been in their final moments before the Shield had fallen and the security feature had kicked in. Their lives were preserved, but for how long?
Queen Serenity sat on the cold, hard ground before them. She came here every day, begging their forgiveness. She had ordered them to this living death, she had told them to sacrifice their freedom for her safety, and they had gone willingly, blindly to their prison. The noble Queen of Crystal Tokyo bowed her head as the tears flowed freely once more. She missed them, oh how she missed them! Ami's calm reassurances, Rei's brash comments, Minako's gentle smile, and Makoto's strong support. She felt alone, isolated without them.
"Please," she whispered, raising her tear stained face to them once more. "Please, my friends, forgive me."
*******
Artemis leapt from the top of the bookshelf and landed on the table. He looked up at the stack of books higher than himself, that they had managed to pull from the shelves. Ahead, Luna was engrossed in another tome of scientific jargon that made Artemis' head spin. Next to her, curled up on a discarded book, slept Diana.
"Any luck?" Artemis asked.
Luna sighed and shook her head. "Nothing here either. I know how the Shield works in theory, but I can't find anything to tell me how Ami-chan made it work in reality."
Artemis moved next to the black cat and scanned the page, hoping somehow to help. The words he read made no sense to him at all and he shook his head in frustration.
"I guess they don't have a 'Crystal Shield For Dummies' book," he remarked.
Luna laughed. "I doubt it, Artemis."
From the book, Diana yawned and woke. Her parents smiled down at her as she blinked her eyes sleepily and stretched.
"Have you found anything?" Diana asked.
"Not yet, kitten," Artemis said gently.
"Maybe Lady Ami put her notes in her room," Diana remarked. "I sometimes sleep on her lap while she's writing late at night."
Luna and Artemis exchanged a glance and leapt from the table. Diana hurried to join them as they sped through the halls of the palace.
*******
Dinner was a silent affair, as it had been for the past week since the Shield fell. Queen Serenity and King Endymion sat at the head of the long table, with their daughter and the outer senshi on the King's left and five empty chairs on the right. Akumu sat next to Hotaru at the end and kept her eyes focused on her plate. The other senshi did the same, but every once in a while, Usagi would raise her eyes to her mother's face as if to speak, only to drop her eyes again. Serenity stared at her untouched food, her hand folded in her lap as the others ate. Finally, the princess could stand it no longer.
"Mama?" she said, breaking the silence.
Queen Serenity looked over at her daughter with emotionless eyes, her face still streaked with tears.
"Why aren't you eating?" Usagi asked.
"I'm not hungry, dear," Serenity replied.
"But you didn't eat lunch," Usagi pushed, "or breakfast, or dinner last night. Mama, I'm worried about you."
Serenity blinked in surprise and stared at her daughter. Usagi's red eyes were brimmed with tears.
"Starving yourself won't help them," Usagi continued. "Hiding away won't help either. We need you, Mama."
Serenity opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out. She turned to her right and saw the empty chairs before pushing away from the table and running from the room. Usagi rose to follow her, but Endymion calmly pushed her down.
"She needs some time," he said. "Luna and Artemis are researching the workings of the Shield right now to see exactly what happened."
"And you'll never guess what we found," Luna said.
The king, princess, and senshi looked to the end of the table and saw Luna, Artemis and Diana walking toward them. Diana proudly carried a piece of paper in her mouth and set it down in front of Endymion.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Lady Ami's notes, Sir," Diana said.
"We figured out what the safety mechanism in the Shield is," Luna explained. "The Shield uses the life energy of the four senshi to stay strong and is anchored at the Crystal Points."
"We already knew that," Haruka pointed out.
"Let me finish," Luna snapped. "Abyss managed to destroy one or more of the Points, thereby cutting off the life energy of the senshi. Ami-chan designed the Crystal to automatically seal them inside if that chain was severed so they wouldn't die. Since all four of their energies goes into the Shield, destroying one Point would be enough to kill them all."
"So, how does this help us?" Michiru asked.
"If we can restore the flow of the senshi's life energies, the Shield would be restored and the safety mechanism would be deactivated," Luna concluded.
The six humans sat in thought, absorbing what Luna had just told them. Endymion read Ami's note on the safety mechanism while Haruka and Michiru seemed to have one of those personal conversations they have without speaking. Finally, the silence was broken.
"How do we restore the flow?" Haruka asked.
"As far as we can tell," Artemis said, "all you have to do is repair the damage at the Crystal Points."
"That means figuring out which Point fell," Luna added.
"It wasn't the western point," Endymion said. "Abyss' forces didn't make it that far in great numbers and it was heavily guarded."
"They were all heavily guarded," Haruka remarked. "That leaves the northern Point, the eastern Point, and the two southern Points."
"Haruka and I will check the two southern Points," Michiru volunteered.
"I'll assemble some troops and lead them to the northern Point," Endymion agreed. "Abyss' forces are closest there."
"And Hotaru-chan, Akumu-chan, and I will check on the eastern Point," Usagi declared.
"Absolutely not!" the three adults said.
"Why?" Usagi pouted.
"First of all, you're not strong enough as a senshi to fight Abyss," Endymion began. "Secondly, Hotaru is easily weakened while she's a senshi and if anything happened, you wouldn't be able to save her."
"Thirdly," Haruka said, "Akumu does not yet have control over her powers. She could kill you all accidentally."
"I don't think I'm that dangerous," Akumu muttered.
"And most importantly," Michiru concluded, "we can't have the Crown Princess running around the city when an enemy army is camped right outside."
The three girls sulked. Even Hotaru looked upset at being left out.
"Well, then how will you check all five Points?" Usagi asked.
Haruka and Michiru exchanged a look with Endymion. The king shrugged.
"Akumu knows the east better than anyone of us," Usagi continued. "She can help us hide if trouble comes, and we'll be near the eastern gate to the palace."
Michiru's expression softened and she reached out to touch Haruka's hand. The blond girl stared at the princess a moment longer, reading the determination in her eyes, and shrugged. Seeing his two allies collapse, Endymion sighed.
"Okay, okay," he said. "You three can go, but I'm sending the Asteroid senshi with you."
"Then who will look after Mama?" Usagi asked.
"The soldiers," Endymion said.
Usagi smiled and leapt from her chair. She enfolded her father in a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek. Endymion smiled and hugged her back.
"Thank you, Papa," Usagi said. "I won't let you down."
Endymion let his daughter go and she ran off with Hotaru and Akumu in tow. Haruka and Michiru watched the entire thing with the cats still perched on the table.
"She has you wrapped around her finger, you know," Artemis remarked.
"You're one to talk," Endymion said with a smile. "When was the last time you refused anything to your daughter?"
Artemis blushed and the group exploded into laughter.
*******
Cerecere, Parapara, Junjun, and Vesves were lounging in their rooms when there was a knock at the door. The four acrobatic girls looked at each other and smiled, glad to have a visitor.
"I'll get it!" they all exclaimed at the same time.
Cerecere launched herself from her hanging trapeze to the rope that hung by the door. Junjun leapt from her trampoline into the air and intercepted Cerecere in mid-flight. The two girls crashed to the ground as Parapara ran to the door. Vesves stood in her path, her whip snapping angrily, but Parapara merely took the tip of the whip in her hand and transformed it into a snake. Vesves dropped the snake in shock and Parapara skipped past her. As she reached out to grasp the doorknob, Junjun knocked her from behind and Cerecere swung from the rope to reach the door first. Turning back to the other three, she stuck out her tongue and opened the door.
"Small Lady!" she exclaimed, bowing.
As Chibiusa, Hotaru, and Akumu entered the room, the Amazon Quartet fell into a bow. Akumu looked around as Chibiusa greeted her former protectors. The rooms were the same as hers, only had been decorated to look like a circus ring. Trapezes and ropes hung from the ceiling, balance beams and large balls were on the floor, and Akumu thought she saw a cage in one of the back rooms. She shook her head in confusion. Clearly there was something about these four girls that no one had told her.
As Chibiusa told them about their mission, Cerecere climbed like a squirrel to perch on a trapeze, while Junjun stood on one of the large balls. Vesves was wrapping up her whip, and Parapara was playing with some dolls on the ground. Akumu inched closer to Hotaru, feeling very vulnerable in this strange circus room.
"So, we're off to the eastern Point?" Junjun said. She looked to Akumu with hard eyes. "I suppose she's going to lead us there."
Akumu felt the daggers in the green haired girl's eyes and felt the malice in her tone. Chibiusa, however, took no notice.
"We're leaving at sunrise tomorrow," the princess said happily.
"What about Queen Serenity?" Cerecere asked.
"Papa's posting guards for her," Chibiusa answered. "She'll be fine."
Vesves frowned. "I don't think we should leave the Queen undefended. Maybe Kuusou Akumu should stay here."
Chibiusa blinked in confusion. "Why? She knows her way around the ruins better than any of us."
"How do we know she won't go running off again?" Junjun demanded.
"I could say the same thing about you four," Akumu replied.
Junjun growled angrily and launched herself at Akumu. The blue haired girl stepped to one side and easily missed the attack. Hotaru placed herself between Akumu and the Quartet.
"Take it easy!" she said.
Chibiusa drew herself up to her full height. "I don't know what's wrong, but you four should behave better. Akumu is a senshi now so you'll all have to be friends."
The Amazonesses muttered apologies and agreements and Chibiusa smiled.
"Great. See you guys at the eastern gate at sunrise. Don't be late!"
As the three girls left, the Quartet resumed their activities. Cerecere hung upside down from her trapeze and Junjun walked around the room on the large ball. Vesves sat dejectedly on a stool while Parapara played on, oblivious to the recent argument.
"I hate her," Junjun muttered. "I wish Small Lady had never found her."
"I wish she would run away again," Vesves added.
"That's it!" Cerecere exclaimed.
The other two looked up at their swinging friend in confusion. Cerecere flipped right side up and leapt from her trapeze to the ground.
"We have to make her run away," Cerecere told them. "Then we'll have Small Lady to ourselves again."
"How do we do that?" Junjun asked.
"Easy," Cerecere said. "I have a plan."
*******
Akumu slept soundly that night, having become used to the soft pillows and mattress of the bed. The curtains were closed, but a thin line of moonlight cut through the darkness of the room. Softly, the door leading to the hallway opened and four silent shadows drifted in. They tiptoed straight to the bed and positioned themselves around Akumu.
Suddenly, Akumu woke and saw four pairs of beady eyes staring at her. Before she could do anything, a gag was shoved into her mouth and something was thrown over her head. She was pulled from her warm, soft bed and tied up in what she thought was a sack. A tiny tear near her eye was her only window to the outside world and, as her kidnappers passed the sliver of moonlight, Akumu caught a glimpse of the slender acrobatic slippers that only four people in the palace wore.
*******
The next morning, Chibiusa and Hotaru stood waiting by the eastern gate. They had not seen Akumu at breakfast, but had been reassured by Endymion that if Akumu was seen, she would be sent to them. The sun was nearly clear of the horizon and the young princess was eager to go.
"Where are they?" she asked Hotaru.
As the purple haired girl shrugged, four figures came running from the palace. Chibiusa smiled as they neared, her four protectors. The Quartet stopped short when they reached the princess and Parapara thrust a piece of paper into her hands.
"We tried to stop her, Small Lady," Junjun said.
"She was too tricky for us," Vesves added.
"Parapara couldn't catch her," Parapara said sadly.
Chibiusa blinked in surprise and lowered her eyes to the note. It was written hastily on a piece of crumpled paper.
Usagi
I'm sorry, but I can't stay. Please forgive me and don't look for me either.
- Akumu
Chibiusa felt tears welling in her eyes. She had thought Akumu had changed after being in the mountains with Sailor Uranus. The elder senshi had thought she was different as well. Akumu had seemed so happy.
As the princess wiped her eyes, Hotaru looked from the grinning faces of the quartet to the note. She took it from Chibiusa's limp hand and read it.
"I guess she's made her decision," Chibiusa said. "Let's go."
The princess turned and headed for the gate. The quartet exchanged smug looks of congratulations and followed the princess. Hotaru took a last look back at the palace before following. Something wasn't quite right here.
*******
The sun was high in the sky when Akumu managed to free herself from the bag. Her kidnappers had tied it up tightly and Akumu had been forced to patiently rip away at the small tear in the sack until it was large enough for her to pass through. Now free of her prison, the newest senshi looked around the dim room to figure out where she was.
The only light came from a slit window near the ceiling and Akumu deduced that she was underground. In the darkness, she could make out shapes around her but couldn't figure out what they were. Heading for the light, Akumu found the wall and began to walk around the room in search of the door. Several times she tripped or lost her feel of the wall, but patience and persistence won out and soon her hand clasped the doorknob.
She turned it. It was locked.
With a frustrated sigh, Akumu lifted her hands to feel around her right ear where she always hid her lock picking tools. Living in the palace hadn't broken her of the habit and she smiled to herself as her fingers found the familiar pieces of wire. Working slowly by feeling alone, she struggled with the lock until she heard the gratifying click of the lock opening. Triumphantly, she opened the door to her cell and started up the flight of stairs before her, tucking her wire safely behind her ear.
Akumu emerged blinking in the late afternoon sunlight. She stood on the outer rim of the training arena. Glancing at the door behind her, she saw it read 'Storage' and she knew whoever had kidnapped her had not wanted her to be found easily. She stood in the sunlight for a moment, still wearing only her pyjamas and no shoes or stockings. It was only then that she remembered what today was.
"Usagi-chan," she muttered to herself, fear choking her.
The princess and her protectors would be well into the ruins by now, heading for the eastern Point. Urgency pushing her forward, Akumu ran from the arena and toward the eastern gate.
*******
"There it is," Chibiusa said.
The destroyed Crystal Point blended into the ruins around it. It had once stood tall and proud, the only crystalline structure in all of Old Tokyo, and the only place where the riffraff of the ruins refused to go. Not only was the Point guarded day and night by ten soldiers, but it had a magical aura around it that kept the superstitious thieves at bay. Now, the crystal was shattered and the bodies of the guards littered the ground. Cautiously, Chibiusa, Hotaru, and the quartet crept forward.
"This place is creepier than Zirconia," Cerecere remarked.
"Colder than Nehelenia," Vesves agreed.
"Parapara doesn't like this place," Parapara whined.
"Shhh!" Chibiusa silenced them.
In silence the six girls entered the Point. Inside was as ruinous as outside. All the machinery that Ami had helped construct to work the Shield was smashed to pieces. More bodies lay inside and Chibiusa buried her face in Hotaru's shoulder to keep from looking at them.
"What are we looking for?" Junjun asked.
Hotaru drew out a piece of paper Luna had given her. On it was a drawing of a cylinder with some wires on the top and bottom.
"This," Hotaru said, showing them the picture.
The quartet stared at it for a second before taking off in different directions to find it. They scrambled over the wreckage like mountain goats, sifting through piles of rubble as the looked. Chibiusa and Hotaru also began to look, shielding themselves from sparks that flew from the different machines that were still plugged in.
Hours past and the sun set, blanketing the ruins of Old Tokyo in darkness and still they had not found the cylinder. As the shadows lengthened, Chibiusa began to suspect that they were no longer alone.
"Is this it?" Vesves asked, holding a strange device in one hand.
"Bring it here," Hotaru ordered.
The quartet converged on Hotaru, landing with ease on the rock strewn floor of the Point. Vesves handed the object to Hotaru who then compared it to the drawing. The were identical, except the cylinder Vesves had found had a strange, colourful, swirling mass inside it.
"This must be it," Hotaru said.
"Good," Chibiusa exclaimed. "Let's go home now."
The other five girls nodded and they headed for the door. Just before they reached it, however, a large figure blocked their path. The girls looked up in horror as they stood face to face with a black demon of Abyss. It was a huge mass of muscle covered in black scales. On its long, dragon like face, a horn grew at the end of a long nose. Two beady eyes that shimmered with intelligence looked down at the six girls.
"Uh oh," Parapara muttered.
"Quick," Chibiusa said, "transform!"
Six hand shot into the air.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
"Saturn Planet Power, Make-Up!"
"Ceres Asteroid Power, Make-Up!"
"Juno Asteroid Power, Make-Up!"
"Vesta Asteroid Power, Make-Up!"
"Pallas Asteroid Power, Make-Up!"
The large demon stepped back in astonishment as the six seemingly helpless girls transformed into the senshi of the Crystal Kingdom. The senshi took the momentary distraction to their advantage and slipped past the enormous creature and into the ruins. The demon turned to face them again.
"Guard the cylinder!" Sailor Moon cried out.
Sailor Vesta nodded and, still holding the cylinder in her hands, disappeared into the ruins. The black demon roared in frustration and tried to go after her, but was suddenly face to face with Saturn's glaive.
"I wouldn't try it," Saturn warned.
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Sailor Moon cried.
The tiny pink hearts proved to be less than an irritation for the giant demon and he ignored Sailor Moon completely as he tried to pass Saturn.
"Silence Glaive!" Saturn called, swiping down with her talisman.
The demon screamed in pain as the attack bit deeply into his hide, but he did not fall. The senshi were forced to retreat deeper into the ruins as the gigantic creature pursued them. The Asteroid senshi scattered and vanished, leaving Saturn and Sailor Moon to face the monster alone.
"Hold it right there!"
The monster looked up from its prey to see a figure silhouetted in the moonlight. She held a cylinder under her arm and pointed menacingly at the demon with the other.
"Guardian of the Mind, I am Sailor Nyx, the Senshi of Dreams," Sailor Nyx called. "By the darkness of the night, I'll punish you!"
Nyx leapt from the rooftop to stand between the demon and her friends. Sailor Moon clapped her hand thankfully as Nyx thrust the cylinder in her arms.
"How did you get this?" Saturn asked.
"I'll explain later," Nyx replied dryly.
She turned back to the demon and smiled, her eyes turning a milky white. Holding out her left hand palm upward, she sprinkled some sparkly powder onto it and looked up at the demon.
"Sandman Kiss!" Nyx whispered as she blew the powder at the demon.
The monster sneezed and yawned sleepily. The three senshi watched in awe as he teetered on his feet before collapsing to the ground. Sailor Nyx opened her arms wide and held them above her head, floating a foot off the ground. Her white eyes looked down at the sleeping enemy and a small sphere of black energy appeared above her head.
"Darkness Engulf!" Nyx proclaimed.
She tossed the sphere onto the body of the sleeping giant and it was quickly absorbed by the black sphere. When the darkness retreated, the demon was gone.
"What happened to you?" Sailor Moon demanded.
"A long story," Nyx sighed. "As for the cylinder, I saw Sailor Vesta leaving it behind some rubble as I headed this way. I thought it might be important, so I took it. It wasn't a very good hiding place."
Sailor Moon sighed wearily. "I think Haruka was right. The Asteroid senshi are too flighty. Anyway, we have to get back to the palace."
"We can't," Nyx said.
"Why not?" Saturn asked.
To answer, Nyx leapt to the rooftops again and the other two senshi followed her. She pointed to the palace and Sailor Moon gasped in shock. Saturn remained emotionless, but Nyx could see the pain in her eyes.
The wall surrounding the palace had been circled by a black army that spread to the palace itself. The Crystal Palace was engulfed in flames except the principal spire where the King and Queen were trapped with the inner senshi.
"Mama," Sailor Moon sobbed. "Papa."
"There's nothing we can do," Nyx said, her voice full of regret. "The Kingdom has fallen."
"Not yet," Sailor Saturn said. "The King and Queen are still alive and if we can restore the inner senshi, they can fight from within."
"The trouble with that plan," Nyx said, "is that we have no idea how to do it."
Sailor Moon stared at her burning home and a cold determination replaced the tears in her eyes.
"We can do it," she said. "We can destroy Abyss and the Black Moon Clan once and for all."